Rodgers delight as young Liverpool tame Young Boys

Debutants shine as Liverpool hit five against Young Boys; Tottenham and Newcastle draw

Andre Wisdom marks his Liverpool debut with a goal against Young Boys in Berne

Manager Brendan Rodgers praised debutants Andre Wisdom and Suso for "seizing their chance" as Liverpool completed a 5-3 UEFA Europa League victory against Young Boys in Berne.

Jonjo Shelvey came off the bench to score twice as Liverpool shared eight goals with the Swiss Super-League side but it was the display of academy graduates Wisdom, the defender who marked his first senior appearance with a headed goal, and central midfielder Suso that most stood out for Rodgers, whose side came back from 3-2 down to seal victory in Switzerland.

"It was a chance for the young players to seize that opportunity to play and they did that. It is a night of great pride for the club and certainly me as a manager"
Brendan Rodgers

"It was a wonderful header from Andre and a great moment for him in his first game for Liverpool and especially with it being in Europe," said Rodgers, who also handed debuts to the recent signing Oussama Assaidi.

"Andre has played a lot at centre-half in his career so far but I think he's got all the qualities to be a top Premier League right-back. I loved Suso's arrogance on the ball too."

Wisdom headed in five minutes before the interval after Raphael Nuzzolo had cancelled out a fourth-minute own goal by Juhani Ojala. However, Ajala made amends early in the second half before Gonzalo Zarate chipped the hosts into the lead. But Sebastian Coates equalised four minutes later before substitute Shelvey scored twice.

"We could have defended better and there is no question the three goals we gave away were disappointing but the young players were so courageous and brave to play and show that confidence," added Rodgers. "My senior players were very much together and kept the young guys going.

Rodgers pride

"All round it was very pleasing. It was a chance for the young players to seize that opportunity to play and they did that. It is a night of great pride for the club and certainly me as a manager. To play like we did and get the goals we did was quite fantastic."

If it was raining goals in Berne the same could not be said in the two other European ties involving Barclays Premier League clubs as both Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United shared goalless draws with Lazio and Maritimo respectively.

"You could see after the match they had a little party, while we were very disappointed"
Jan Vertonghen

Tottenham did put the ball in the net three times at White Hart Lane, but Clint Dempsey, on his Spurs debut, and Jermain Defoe both had goals ruled out for offside, while Steven Caulker's header was disallowed for a foul. At the other end Alvaro Gonzalez struck the bar with a dipping volley from the edge of the penalty area.

"We wanted to win today and Lazio are a good team, but we were better," said Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen. "We were at home, we were going for the three points and it is a shame we didn't do it. They are a good team and it is good to keep a clean sheet.

"They were here for a draw and were happy with one point. You could see after the match they had a little party, while we were very disappointed."

Newcastle were also denied by the woodwork as they were frustrated by Portuguese outfit Maritimo, Shola Ameobi seeing a header pushed on to the post by Romain Salin and an even better curling effort, following a solo run, rebound off the bar.

It was not all one-way traffic, however, and the Magpies were indebted to goalkeeper Rob Elliot who, on just his second game for the club, pulled off to fine saves early on.

"He was outstanding, as well as the back four on a really difficult surface against difficult opponents," said Newcastle manager Alan Pardew. "A draw was a great result."

Date changes for Barclays Premier League matches

Find out what alterations have been made to the Barclays Premier League fixture list

Newcastle's involvement in the Europa League has forced the fixture changes

The Premier League has announced the following fixture changes:

Southampton v Newcastle United
New date: Sunday 25th November, 2012
Kick-off time: 3pm
Reason for amendment: Newcastle United's participation in the Europa League the preceding Thursday.

Stoke City v Newcastle United
New date: Wednesday 28th November, 2012
Kick-off time: 7.45pm
Reason: Movement of Southampton v Newcastle United to Sunday 25th November.

Falcao scores hat trick as Atletico crushes Bilbao: La Liga

Atletico Madrid striker Radamel Falcao scored a hat trick Monday as his team thrashed Athletic Bilbao 4-0 in the teams' first meeting since the Europa League final last season.

Falcao scored twice in the 3-0 victory in Romania in May and could have scored more at the Vicente Calderon as Bilbao continued to struggle without Spain internationals Fernando Llorente and Javi Martinez, who were omitted from the squad again with their futures at the Basque club uncertain.

Atletico couldn't have asked for a better warm-up ahead of Friday's European Super Cup, which pits it against Champions League winner Chelsea and former player Fernando Torres.

"We're in good shape and we're happy and now we have to prepare for the Super Cup," said Falcao, who scored 36 goals in all competitions last season. "Now I want to improve on my numbers from last season."

Falcao opened after receiving a throw-in from Filipe Luis that he carried past defender Mikel San Jose before chipping goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz for the 20th-minute opener in the Spanish league match.

The Colombia striker's athleticism allowed him to meet Diego Godin's looping cross at the far post with an acrobatic volley to make it 2-0 in the 42nd.

Falcao created the third as Carlos Gurpegui blocked his pass with his hand inside the area to set up a 59th-minute penalty the Atletico striker converted for his third goal.

Only Iraizoz kept Falcao and the rest of his Atletico teammates from adding to the scoreline with a number of clutch stops before Tiago completed the emphatic victory with a rising shot into the roof of the net in the 84th.

Athletic coach Marcelo Bielsa may find himself under pressure after conceding nine goals in two consecutive league losses, especially with Llorente and Martinez's situation obviously distracting.

"The coach never counts on all players for a game, he always leaves some out," said club president Jose Urrutia, who added the club had no intention of negotiating the players' exit.

"It's not in our hands. They are Athletic players and we hope to count on them but there are two conditions — that Athletic is not interested or that they pay the buy-out clause. And neither of those conditions have been met."

Juventus is reportedly interested in Llorente, whose buy-out clause is valued at C36 million ($45 million). Bayern Munich is chasing Martinez with the defender/midfielder netting C40 million ($50 million) for any transfer.

Meanwhile, promoted Valladolid joined Barcelona and Rayo Vallecano as the only teams with two straight wins to start the season after it scored both penalties in a 2-0 win over 10-man Levante.

Defender David Navarro handled inside the area for a second booking and red card to set up Victor Perez's 38th-minute penalty at the Jose Zorrilla Stadium. Perez stepped up to score another spot kick in the 48th to secure the victory.

Real Madrid's shock 2-1 loss at Getafe left it with a single point from two rounds and five points adrift of Barcelona, which needed late goals from Lionel Messi on Sunday to rally back for a 2-1 win at Osasuna. The Spanish giants meet in the Spanish Super Cup on Wednesday — when new Madrid signing Luka Modric could debut — with Barcelona leading 3-2 after the first leg.

Mancini demands better finishing despite City win

Champions gain victory through goals from Yaya Toure, Edin Dzeko and Carlos Tevez

Yaya Toure opened the scoring with a close-range finish

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini lamented his side's finishing after they saw off Queens Park Rangers 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium.

City only had a Yaya Toure goal to show for their dominance when Bobby Zamora stunned the Barclays Premier League champions with a 59th-minute equaliser for QPR against the run of play.

City's response was to go back ahead almost immediately, with Edin Dzeko heading home, while Carlos Tevez added a third in injury time.

"We played well in first half, but we have one problem at the moment: - when we have a chance to score we don't score and the game can change," Mancini said. "We had this problem in the first game and against Liverpool.

"In the second half we didn't play well. We were too slow but in the end it's important that we took three points."

QPR manager Mark Hughes felt his side were unfortunate not to take something from the game.

"We are a little bit disappointed," said Hughes. "In the first half we restricted them to a few chances and the most problems we had were from set-pieces. In general play our shape was good.

"But we were working hard without putting them under enough pressure to affect the game going the other way. We addressed that in the second half and really put a shift in and caused them some problems. We were in control of the game.

"Obviously when we equalised it was a real body blow to concede so soon after that. If we had maintained the position at 1-1 maybe we could have caused them even more problems.

"I sensed there was apprehension in the stadium and that was filtering through to them. We fed off that but in the end we were disappointed. In general we can take positives from 

Chelsea's Super Cup hopes ended by Falcao

Atletico Madrid striker hits hat-trick in Monaco to claim UEFA Super Cup in 4-1 win

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  Radamel Falcao curls in the second goal of his first-half hat-trick against Chelsea

Chelsea's hopes of winning the UEFA Super Cup for a second time were ended by a superb hat-trick Atletico Madrid's Radamel Falcao.

The Colombia striker hit a first-half hat-trick as the Spanish winners of the Europea League beat the European champions 4-1 in Monaco.

Chelsea won the trophy in 1998, beating Spanish opposition in Real Madrid but they were always on the back as Falcao served a fourth-minute warning by hitting the crossbar with a shot. The forward made no mistake three minutes later when he raced clear, waited for Petr Cech to commit and dinked the ball beyond the lunging David Luiz on the line and in off a post.

Roberto Di Matteo's side did briefly look a threat at the other end, Eden Hazard drilling over, but Adrian Lopez and Arda Turan both went close for Atletico before Falcao struck again in the 18th minute, curling a 15-yard shot into the far top corner.

Falcao hit the woodwork for the second time when he threw his head at Lopez's air-shot only to see it hit a post - but he completed a deserved hat-trick moments before half-time when Turan ran 60 yards and squared for the unmarked striker to finish.

Atletico made it 4-0 on the hour mark, Miranda poking Mario Suarez's lay-off home.

Jorge Koke's crossed free-kick almost went straight through but was saved by Cech before Cahill drilled a consolation goal after Atletico failed to clear Frank Lampard's corner.

Di Matteo bemoaned his team's poor start to the match. "The first half we started very sloppy," the Chelsea manager said. "It was a slow start and if you give Falcao space he's very dangerous and we should have blocked him before that.

"We didn't have much penetration. It went in their favour with the early goal and we found it difficult to find the space in the middle and tried to go our wide. We were very defensive and they countered on us."